Mary, I agree with a lot of what you have to say but it will take more than a carefully constructed charm offensive by T.C. to lift the s.p. and reduce his current huge paper loss.

Deals need to be done quickly, he has the cash, but you are right in questioning whether using the words "cheeky bids" was a wise move. It would certainly result in any initial bid being rejected in the knowledge that the bid was indeed cheeky !

I too have a large holding in PMG have even recommended the share to family and I do honestly believe that we shall see things improve substantially in the very near future.

Thanks for posting the links and to Eminent Trader also. TC is on a charm offensive for one reason and that he is under pressure. When the SP hit 82p this week his personal stake had reduced by a staggering £40M. from the highs, and in my opinion, in part it is due to the lamentable communications with shareholders. I am sure this does not apply to II 's but the decline this week was due to PI's hitting the panic button and as a consequence the II's were asking questions (in my opinion).
I will not go into the details but anyone who has been in PMG any length of time will know that there have been too many occasions when an RNS should have been issued but it was not. The loose rules of AIM meant that technically they were not required but in PR terms and old fashioned courtesy it was, in my opinion arrogant not too. All good soundbites from TC in talking about" running a tight ship" but this week the BOD saw the consequences of that style. PI's may be insignificant in the great scheme of things but they can sure move the SP in a company that has poor liquidity, as well as the manipulation.
To talk of being in a win win situation is fine if it was supported by some facts or action. Drilling is cheaper now and if TC says rig rates have halved I do not doubt it. How is PMG going to "win win" out of this as no drilling permits have been applied for either in any assets operated by the company or where they are a partner.
I do not doubt the history of TC and it was fantastic but you cannot keep feeding on past successes. That was then, this is now. Far be it for me to criticise an icon but was it the best thing to talk about "making cheeky bids" when you are looking for acquisitions? Despite the doom and gloom about the UKCS there is plenty of money from private equity and shell companies looking for opportunities so there will be plenty of competition.
I really want this company to succeed if for no other reason than I have a lot of cash tied up here so I have no reason to be negative other than to give my personal views.
GLA

My faith in the Company and my shareholding has been boosted although in truth I never really doubted that Tom and his team would succeed in the longer term. It was just the lack of news that was so frustrating.

TOM Cross has said the Parkmead Group he runs is braced for the oil price to stay low but can still make plenty of money from North Sea acquisitions.

The oil and gas entrepreneur said Aberdeen-based Parkmead is eyeing 10 deals which could involve it shelling out up to $100 million (£65m) for the right asset.

Mr Cross, who grew Dana Petroleum into a £1.9 billion business, said Parkmead has its sights on six targets in the UK and four in the Netherlands. The list includes companies and individual assets.

Work on some of the potential deals is well advanced.

They are all things that will stand the test of low oil price and make considerable gains as the oil price recovers, said Mr Cross.

He added: We would not buy anything where we would not make money at current prices.

Following a week in which bosses at BP and Shell both highlighted the possibility the slump in oil prices may be prolonged, Mr Cross said Parkmead had made plans on the assumption that view was correct.

However, noting that the price rallied somewhat in the second quarter, he said Parkmead had also considered a more optimistic scenario. Global political developments could influence crude prices as well as supply and demand considerations.

Mr Cross is confident that Parkmead is well placed to capitalise on either outcome.

He has previously highlighted the fact the slump in the crude price since June last year has created opportunities to buy assets at much cheaper prices than during the boom.

In March he said the oil price fall would allow potential buyers to make cheeky offers.

Yesterday, Mr Cross noted: You see companies that have got difficulties with expensive debt, bonds. We dont have any of that. We are a clean, small, tightly run company.

He believes the slump in the crude price since June last year will speed the process of transformation in the North Sea, which will see independents such as Parkmead playing an increasingly important role.

In terms of the North Sea theres obviously a changing of the guard. There are big companies with large infrastructure and older infrastructure which gives rise to high running costs ... but for Parkmead as a new company thats just been operating a short while we can be much more selective, said Mr Cross.

Shell bosses have made it clear they want to reduce the companys exposure to mature fields in areas such as the Northern North Sea off Scotland.

While Mr Cross has masterminded six acquisitions since joining Parkmead in 2010 he stressed that the companys strategic priorities also include organic growth.

Parkmead was awarded three more exploration licences in the latest UK round this week. These include two in what the company called the highly prospective West of Shetland area and one in the gas-rich Southern North Sea.

Mr Cross has gained plenty of knowledge of both areas in his time at Parkmead and before that at Dana.

He made around £60m when Dana was sold to Korea National Oil Corporation for £1.9bn in 2010.

While sector watchers are concerned about low levels of exploration activity in UK waters, Mr Cross noted a consequence of the downturn was that firms with resources in place could do much more work for less money than in the past.

Budgets for individual wells are down to half of what they were six to twelve months ago, he said.

THE chief executive of Royal Dutch Shell, Ben van Beurden, has signalled the planned takeover of BG will be followed by a big sell off of North Sea assets as the company prepares to live with a long period of low oil prices.

Mr van Beurden said the oil and gas giant plans to shrink the enlarged North Sea business to be created by the deal to focus on a core of select assets in an area where he complained taxes and operating costs remained too high.

Shell underlined its enthusiasm for the two giant fields it is developing West of Shetland with BP, which should produce lots of cash when they come onstream.

However, Mr van Beurden made it clear other assets in the North Sea portfolio will struggle to attract investment as Shell slashes spending in response to the plunge in the oil price.

In March the company announced plans to cut 250 jobs in Aberdeen and the UK North Sea. The cuts form part of a programme Shell said yesterday would result in the group shedding 6,500 posts in total this year.

The 6,500 target does not assume further job losses in the North Sea.

But, describing the North Sea as a high cost area, Shells chief financial officer Simon Henry said more cuts could not be ruled out.

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He said Shell could transfer back office work to low cost locations to help cut costs.

The planned takeover of BG, for around £50bn in cash and shares, will create opportunities to achieve synergies by removing duplicated central functions.

BG has headquarters in Berkshire and runs its North Sea business from Aberdeen.

Asked where the North Sea would fit in the enlarged business, Mr van Beurden told reporters:

Together we will have a much enlarged position which, to be perfectly frank, we can take a look at and we can high grade from.

Like any other province that gets mature, and certainly one of course where we have high cost structures and still a very high tax regime, we will have to look at how to restructure this to bring it back to its most advantaged core.

Mr van Beurden said the takeover of BG would encourage the company to speed up the portfolio rationalisation process. The company plans to focus investment in areas such as large deep water and liquefied natural gas projects. It expects to sell $30bn (£19bn) assets over the next three years to help raise funds that could be used to cut debt and fund payouts to shareholders.

Shells announcement came as Centrica, which owns Scottish Gas, said it would shrink its exploration and production division by a third. The energy giant plans to cut 6,000 jobs across the group this year.

Centrica said the slimmed down E&P business would focus on the North Sea and East Irish Sea. The company said it has important assets in the UK that it needs to maximise returns from but investment in new projects will be targeted on Norway. The Canadian business has been deemed non core.

Shells latest results provided further evidence of the toll the crude price fall has taken on the sector.

Profit fell 37 per cent to $3.8bn excluding one offs in the three months to June, from $6.1bn in the same period last year.

Todays oil price downturn could last for several years, said Shell. It added: The company has to be resilient in todays oil price environment, even though we see the potential for a return to a $70-$90 oil price band in the medium

Sometimes a drop in the share price is the precursor to news . However in the case of PMG it may be that TC is attempting to put together major deals which take a great deal of time and effort rather than pick up lower hanging fruit . The company's policy of not keeping investors up to date with progress on the various projects in hand is also very hard to accept . Surely it won't be long before the institutional investors currently backing PMG will be actively considering their position . Let's hope it doesn't get to the point where an extraordinary general meeting is being demanded .

Cross has stated that he wanted to replicate his previous success. Businesses succeed due to a combination of three things: market circumstances, quality of management and good luck. Market circumstances are difficult to replicate and largely out of the hands of individual companies and luck comes in both the good and bad varieties. Cross and his team have not become bad managers but circumstances do not currently allow for Dana II to flourish. I hope what is happening is that in the light of the current market, management is reviewing strategy and trying to exploit conditions as they are, not as they would like them to be. That is quite difficult if you set out with an existing blue print as they did here and the quality of management will be tested. In the meantime in my view the share price will continue to fall until the future direction is make clear to investors.

Unfortunately RDS doesn't share your view.
I have been in the Oil business for a considerable time. This down turn is economically about "which dog can pee higher"??
Ironic that it was Westen Coy's and their technology, that gave the Saudis the wealth, which in turn is hurting us all now?
Hanging on,,,,!

Off loaded most of my holding exactly a year ago at 214p - still hold a few hundred which are showing a 65% loss. Regrettably I think TC has lost his touch. Future for commodities and oil looks bleak for near future. Can't believe talk of interest rate rises when there is concern about deflation in the US. If anyone has anything they can salvage from here I would advise SSE, NG,
or GSK as ports in a storm.

Trapoil believes it can still make money in the North Sea
MARK WILLIAMSON / 01:06 Wednesday 29 July 2015 / Business
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A new management team is set to take charge of loss-making Trapoil in the belief the company can still prosper in the North Sea in spite of the crude price plunge.

Oil and gas veterans Andrew Benitz and Ronald Landsell plan to change London-based Trapoils strategy to focus mainly on buying into existing producing assets rather than trying to find and develop new fields.

There is still an opportunity to make money at current prices, said Mr Benitz. Where you cant make money is in the exploration and development stage.

Mr Benitz said the fall in the crude price has created opportunities to buy assets at attractive prices.

He noted Trapoil has amassed losses the company could use to boost returns from producing North Sea fields.

The losses were incurred while Trapoil worked on an exploration portfolio that included assets acquired through the £30m acquisition of Banchory-based Reach Oil & Gas in 2011.

Trapoil acquired a 15 per cent stake in the Athena oil field before it entered production in May 2012, for around £35m. Athena became significantly loss-making following the fall in the crude price and production
In May Trapoil warned it could go bust unless it raised further funding fast.

Mr Benitz noted the company had reached an agreement with creditors in June.

He and Mr Landsell have agreed a deal under which they will sell the Jersey Oil and Gas E&P business they founded to Trapoil for shares in the Aim-listed company worth around £500,000.

Trapoil has arranged to raise around £800,000 working capital from new and existing investors.

The deals will leave shareholders in Jersey Oil & Gas with around 27 per cent of the shares in the enlarged Trapoil, which raised £60m when it floated on Aim in 2011.

They are subject to approval by shareholders in Trapoil, which will be renamed Jersey Oil and Gas.

Share article

Mr Benitz and Mr Landsell will be chief executive and chief operating officer of the enlarged firm.

Trapoils chairman Marcus Stanton said: We believe that the proposed acquisition of JOG, refined business strategy and injection of new capital, presents a welcome opportunity to enable the Company to resume a growth strategy.

These factors are affecting virtually every share but PMG despite all it's advantages is drifting down at seemingly faster rates than many of its peers .
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News News News.....PMG are not any different from the rest of the oilees. No sign of Collapse in my eyes
Cross has ridden many oil slumps before. Not an issue to him !

This share is being used to provide beer money for the spivs who frequent AIM . Notice how the price is driven down at closing eg 110p and in the morning it shoots back up to 115p , for no apparent reason .
They're not interested in the share just greed . Oh and I do accept that we all invest to make cash but unlike the long term investor these guys are not taking any real risk .

According to today's P&J , Trap Oil "are considering an asset sell off in a fight for survival". The company says it could go bust and urgently needed a" viable funding solution". Apparently it needs to sell assets including certain of the group's license interests" in order to survive .
Looks as if they're in a hole .....might PMG be interested in acquiring some of their assets or indeed a takeover ?

1. Parkmead did raise substantial capital early last year, so it would have been too early to go back to the market for more funds before the end of the year.
2. TC hasn't sold any stock, but by only subscribing to <1% of the recent fundraising his overall equity has been significantly diluted.

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